Monday March 14, 2022 at 3:33 am

A clip for an upcoming documentary on the rise and fall of New York City underground poker scene made the rounds with “The History of New York Poker in 6 Minutes” on YouTube. If you're a fan of 'Rounders', then you're aware that poker rooms in the cult classic film were based on real locations around NYC that flourished during the height of the poker boom in the mid-2000s.

NYCdocclub

If you're a poker player and enthusiast that loves the film Rounders, then keep an eye out for an upcoming documentary on the New York City underground poker scene, which tells the story of several of the poker clubs that were depicted in the film that was written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien. They both played poker and decided to bring the rough and tumble world of underground poker to the big screen.

Yes, it's true Teddy KGB from Rounders was inspired from a real-life person known as Eddie KGB. Joey Knish was based on a real person known as Joey Bagels. These larger-than-life characters were popularized by Rounders, but they were all a part of a larger ecosystem known as the underground poker scene in New York City from the 1990s that reached huge popularity in the late 2000s, which coincided with the glorious online poker boom.

The underground games eventually went private after numerous raids by NYPD and the shooting death of a popular regular. The popularity also diminished after Black Friday. However, there's a cool documentary about the rise and fall of the NYC underground poker scene. You can check out a clip that sums up the NYC poker scene in six minutes.

Residents of New York City did not have legalized gambling options within the five boroughs. Aside for OTB, which catered to degen horseracing bettors, you had to head out of state to a casino in New Jersey or Connecticut to play poker. Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut had poker rooms, but they were located a couple hours away in New England. Or you could head down the New Jersey Turnpike and play cards in Atlantic City. Buses were available to whisk gamblers away to those casinos, which I rode numerous times. For a while I rented a car every couple of weeks to drive up to Foxwoods to play poker all night and then return to NYC with the car the next morning hopefully with enough winnings to pay for the rental.

But, if you knew the right people in NYC, you could play in one of the numerous underground cardrooms like the ones depicted in Rounders, and you didn't have to schlep all the way down to AC, or fight traffic out to Foxwoods.

The Chesterfield in Rounders was the fictionalized version of the old Mayfair Club. Many pros from New York City cut their teeth playing poker at the Mayfield, but were initially there to play chess or backgammon. Obviously there's more money (and way more fish) at the poker tables than chess/backgammon, which is why poker games flourished. Erik Seidel and Howard Lederer were among the notable names who started playing at the Mayfield before eventually moving to Las Vegas to pursue poker full time as a professional.

There were no shortage of shady card rooms and gambling dens in NYC that were run by criminal groups, but the more popular card rooms were trying to distance themselves from that element. Some of those clubs were mentioned in the documentary like the Player's Club on the Upper West Side and Playstation down by Union Square. During the glorious poker boom, several celebrities could be spotted at these card rooms including A-Rod from the New York Yankees, or actor Macaulay Culkin.

The Player's Club was hidden in plain sight on Manhattan's Upper West Side, which is populated by wealthy New Yorkers with families. Yet, the Players Club spread games around the clock only footsteps from one of the most quaint neighborhoods in NYC.

Check out the clip here:

Latest news
Tuesday March 7, 2023 at 9:52 pm
2023 SCOOP returns to US at PokerStars on March 17

PokerStars announced that the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) returns to American players in three states. The 2023 SCOOP has 42 events and the popular online tournament series will be available to PokerStars players on in Pennsylvania (PASCOOP) and a shared player pool in New Jersey and Michigan (MI/NJSCOOP) beginning March 17 and running through April 3. There's a total of $5 million in guanarteed prize pools.

Monday February 27, 2023 at 9:33 pm
Romana's Razvan Belea ships EPT Paris for €1.1 million

The European Poker Tour hosted the inaugural EPT Paris at the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile. The €5,300 buy-in Main Event at the EPT Paris attracted 1,606 entrants with 447 re-entries. Razvan Belea from Romania parlayed a €530 satellite seat into a €1.1 million payday when he was the last player standing to become the first Romanian champion in EPT history.

Saturday February 4, 2023 at 7:35 pm
Aliaksandr Shylko wins 2023 PokerStars Players Championship for $3.1 million

Aliaksandr Shylko from Belarus shipped the second-ever PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) for a $3.1 million score after he worked out a three-way money chop with Germany's Max Menzel and Philipe Pizzari from Brazil. Nacho Barbero went deep in the 2023 PSPC with a fourth-place finish at Baha Mar in the Bahamas. Shylko outlasted 1,014 runners who generated a prize pool worth over $24.8 million

Wednesday January 25, 2023 at 6:21 pm
LAPT Returns: PokerStars brings back Latin American Poker Tour

After a seven-year layoff, PokerStars will relaunch the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT). The LAPT returns to Brazil with a stop in Rio de Janeiro on March 2, 2023. There will be an event in Montevideo, Uruguay in April, plus two more events planned in Sao Paolo, Brazil in July and November. And there's other LAPT dates and locations that will be announced soon.

Thursday January 19, 2023 at 7:03 pm
PokerStars to Host Sunday Million 17th Anniversary on March 26

PokerStars wants you to save a special date on Sunday March 26, 2023. PokerStars s celebrating the 17th Anniversary of the Sunday Million. Yes, the Sunday Milly turns 17 in March! The buy-in is only $215, and this year's celebration will have a $7.5 million guaranteed prize pool. This year's winner will bank at least $1 million. Germany's Blackbeaty won the Sunday Million's 16th anniversary special.

Tuesday January 10, 2023 at 11:11 pm
PokerStars Launches PSPC Online starting Jan 13

PokerStars will launch a special virtual version of the PokerStars Players Championship for American online poker players in New Jersey and Michigan with the PSPC Online. The special series runs from January 13 through Jan 30 on PokerStars for a combined player pool in New Jersey and Michigan. The PSPC Online has 85 events and a guaranteed prize pool worth $2.5 million. Oh, and there's a special PSPC Online for online grinders in the state of Pennsylvania as well with 72 events.

Friday December 2, 2022 at 10:06 pm
PokerStars announces new EPT Season with stops in Paris and Cyprus

PokerStars announced their 2023 live tournament events schedule for the European Poker Tour which includes five stops including two first-time destinations. The EPT kicks off in February 2023 with their EPT Paris debut. In the fall, the EPT heads to the EPT Cyprus for the first time. There's also usual stops at the EPT Monte-Carlo, EPT Barcelona, and the EPT Prague.

Monday November 28, 2022 at 11:17 pm
Win PokerStars Platinum Passes at Gotaga Poker Night or at Resorts World La Vegas

The Road to the PSPC continues. Here's your chance to snag a Platinum Pass to get a free trip to the Bahamas to play in the PokerStars Players Championship at Baha Mar Resort during the return of the PCA in January 2023. You can win a pass through a freeroll hosted by Gotaga, aka France's #1 Twitch streamer. Americans have a chance to win a Platinum Pass at a $400 buy-in tournament at Resorts World Las Vegas.

Thursday November 17, 2022 at 11:07 pm
2022 WSOP Europe: Sweden's Omar Eljach wins Main Event for €1.38 million

The 2022 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event at the King's Casino in Rozvadov has come to an end with Sweden's Omar Eljach edging out France's Jonathan Pastore to win the bracelet and €1.38 million in cash. The €10,350 buy-in affair attracted 763 runners. The final table also included Shaun Deeb, Barny Boatman, Alexandre Read, and Tim Adams.

Tuesday November 15, 2022 at 2:12 am
2022 WSOPE: Turkey's Orpen Kisacikoglu wins €50K Diamond High Roller

Orpen Kisacikoglu from Turkey won his first bracelet with a victory in the World Series of Poker Europe Event #11 €50,000 Diamond High Roller at the King's Casino in Rozvadov. Kisacikoglu won €748K and outlasted a stacked final table that included Sam Grafton, Shaun Deeb, Nick Petrangelo, Timothy Adams, Daniel Pidin, and Daniel Dvoress. Last week, Paul Phua secured his first bracelet with a victory in WSOPE Event #8 €25,000 Platinum High Roller for a €482,433 score.

Friday November 4, 2022 at 8:12 pm
2022 WSOP Europe: Anson Tsang Ships Event #4 €2,000 PLO

The 2022 World Series of Poker Europe is underway at the King's Casino in Rozvadov, and Yan Shing 'Anson' Tsang was the last player standing in 2022 WSOP Europe Event #4 €2,000 PLO to win €95,461 and his third-career bracelet. Tsang outlasted a final table that included Tomasz Gluszko, Shawn Stroke, Dario Alioto, Oswin Ziegelbecker, Vivian Saliba, Farid Jattin, Pavel Izotov, and Jorryt van Hoof.

Saturday October 8, 2022 at 5:44 pm
Daniel Negreanu wins 2022 Super high Roller Bowl for $3.3 Million

After whiffing in numerous high rollers, Daniel Negreanu outlasted 23 runners to win the $300,000 buy-in 2022 Super High Roller Bowl VII in Las Vegas. Negreanu banked $3.3 million for the victory, which marked the second-highest payout of his illustrious career. Negreanu edged out a final four at the SHRB VII that included Nick Petrangelo, Justin Bonomo, and Andrew Lichtenberger.

Free tournaments and added prizes

The Club Poker organizes freerolls and special tournaments with added prizes.
To qualify for free, register on our poker partners websites:

Tournaments Club Poker
6-MAX
$2.20
Big Poker League
Thursday March 23, 2023 at 7:04 pm
$125 added
6-MAX
$2.20
Big Poker League
Thursday March 30, 2023 at 7:04 pm
$125 added